▌𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ━︎━︎ 𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐅𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ▌

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐈𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐀 𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐃 𝐀 smile when she spotted Ben making his way towards her. Ilaria instantly met him halfway and they began walking. "So, tell me, how did your date with Mal go?" They walked out of Auradon Prep and made their way towards the castle.

     Ben had a boyish smile on his face. "Yeah, it went good. Great, actually. She's great."

     Ilaria hooked her arm with his, leaning her head on his shoulder as they continued into the palace. "Aw, Ben I'm so happy for you."

     "Thanks, Ria." They passed by several staff as they made their way to Ben's room. "How's it going with Evie?"

      Ilaria pressed her lips together in an attempt to hide her smile. "She, uh, she asked me to coronation."

     Ben snapped his head towards her, a wide smiling pulling on his lips. "That's great! Oh, Ria, I'm so happy for you."

     Ilaria scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Don't get too excited, my sweet Benjamin. She probably just wanted someone to accompany her since Mal's going with you."

     "Well, I expect you to be near the front so I can see you." Ben ordered as they entered his room. "I have to see the disgusted smile you're going to have on your face when I get crowned King."

     Ilaria jumped on his bed, a sigh leaving her lips. She used her hand to prop her head up as she laid on the bed. "I can't believe you're going to be King. You're going to leave me behind and forget all about me." She sat up. "Don't get me wrong, I'm excited for you and I can't wait to see what you do with it, but I am going to miss you."

     Ben frowned. "You'll still see me. You're still going to be my best friend, Ria, despite me being King."

     Ilaria softly chuckled. "Ben, I love you, you know that right?" Ben nodded. She stood and approached him, reaching out and grabbing his hands. "You my dear friend are going to be swamped. I don't think you understand how much is about to be placed on your shoulders. You'll be so busy figuring things out that you won't have time for me, or for any of us."

     His frown deepened. "Don't say that."

     "I'm not trying to upset you, Ben. I'm just trying to prepare you for what's to come." Ilaria met his eyes and gave him a gentle smile. "I promise I know what I'm talking about. I've sat beside my aunt as she's played Queen and I see all the sides of it. I know what comes with being a ruler."

     Ben shook his head. "I don't want to be ruler if it means I can't spend time with the people I care about."

     Ilaria's eyes widened. "Please don't tell me I just accidentally talked you out of being King. Your parents will kill me. And I would never admit this out loud to his face, but your father scares me a little."

     "I didn't realize how much of a burden this might be."

     Ilaria frowned. "Ben, it's not a burden. You get to lead a whole country. People are going to look up to you. You are the most level headed person I know, and for the most part you think about your decisions before you make them and that's what makes a perfect King." She placed her hands on his shoulders. "You are going to be a great King."

     Ben looked at her for a moment before a small smile started to curl on his lips. "You mean that?"

     Ilaria nodded. "I do."

     She watched as his shoulders visibly relaxed and she let out a breath of relief.  For a moment she truly thought she had talked him out of taking his rightful throne. She didn't know what she would have done. Probably run away. She would've been cursed for generations. Ilaria took a seat on his bed once again and watched as he began rummaging through his closet. After a minute or two she slowly raised her brow. "What are you doing?"

     "Well, since Family Day is Sunday, I was trying to find a nice outfit to wear. I haven't broke it to my parents that Mal and I are dating yet. I want to formally introduce them."

     Ilaria blinked in shock. "Your parents. . . don't know. . . that you're dating a villain?" She mumbled to herself, "They must live under a rock." She glanced around her at the giant palace they were in. "Close enough." She stood and walked over to him, pushing him aside. "Let me look." She pulled out a blue suit with a white shirt and showed them to Ben. "How about this?"

     Ben stared at the suit for a moment before smiling. "It's perfect." He took the outfit from her hands. "I didn't know you were such a fashionista."

     "I'm not." Ilaria answered. "But, I do know what looks good and what doesn't."

     "Are you excited to see your aunt?" Ben asked.

     Ilaria couldn't help but smile. She truly did love her aunt. Mirana meant the entire world to her and she loved her so much. Her aunt would do anything for Ilaria and quite honestly Ilaria would do anything for Mirana. She'd missed her aunt a lot lately and she would be lying to herself if she said she wasn't excited to see her. "I am," Ilaria said. "I've missed her and Wonderland."

     "It's been a while since I've seen her." Ben nodded.

     "Well she's been dying to see you again." Ilaria told him. "You must come see her on Family Day. Promise?"

     Ben chuckled. "I promise." 

     "I should probably go." Ilaria softly said.

     Ben spun to face her. "You don't have to. We could watch a movie or bake in the kitchen. . . or something." Ilaria rose her brows with an amused smile. "I'm sorry, I just haven't had the chance to hang out with you a lot lately, and if becoming King means I'll see you even less, I want to take advantage of time while I still have it."

     Ilaria chuckled and nodded. "I could go for some brownies right now."

     Ben smiled. "Brownies it is." He motioned a hand forwards towards the door. "This way, princess."

     Ilaria mockingly curtseyed. "Thank you, my prince." Ben rolled his eyes and Ilaria chuckled before making her way towards the kitchen with Ben following her. They began gathering ingredients to make brownies and naturally it somehow ended up in a food fight and they were both covered with brownie batter, flower, sugar, and at one point Ilaria had even cracked an egg on top of Ben's head. After laughing so hard that they couldn't breathe, they finally put the brownies in the oven and stood there as they baked.

     They turned their heads when the kitchen doors opened and they saw Belle standing there. Ilaria gave the older woman a sheepish smile. "We were just cleaning up."

     Belle stared at the two for a moment and she just shook her head but a small smile was curling on her lips. "I'm glad to see you two having fun. Is your aunt coming Sunday, Ilaria?"

     Ilaria attempted to wipe brownie batter off her shirt but it only made it worse. "She is." Ilaria confirmed.

     "Good. I was hoping to speak with her for a few moments."

     Instantly, nerves started bubbling in Ilaria's stomach. "Oh. Uh, it's not about me, is it?"

     "Actually, it is." Belle confirmed. Ilaria pressed her lips together and nodded. Belle examined the kitchen. "Did any of it actually make it into the pan?"

     Ben chuckled. "Surprisingly, yes."

     Belle nodded. "Well, I'll let you two get back to it then." She turned and left.

     "You think she's going to kick me out?" Ilaria asked, finally turning her eyes away from the place Belle had been to look at Ben.

     Ben shook his head. "You're immune, remember?"

     "I thought that was when you became King?"

     Ben shrugged and gave her a sly smile. "I have my ways."

     Ilaria smiled and bumped her shoulder with him. At that moment, the oven beeped. "The brownies are done." Ben pulled them out and Ilaria instantly got herself a plate and dug in. She hummed in delight. "Oh, these are delicious."

     Ben hummed his agreement. "We're good chef's."

     "We should start our own bakery."

     They both paused and glanced around at the messy area around them. A chuckle left Ben's lips as he looked at Ilaria. "Maybe not." Ilaria let out a laugh and smiled in content as she continued to eat her brownie.

She stayed long enough to watch a movie and when it grew dark outside she finally left. She was still covered in food but she didn't mind all that much. It felt nice to hang out with her best friend, just the two of them. It felt like it had been forever since that's happened. She walked to her room, and seeing as she was the only one awake it was quiet. She was startled however when she heard some call her name.

     "Ria?" Ilaria quickly spun on her heel to see Evie and Mal making their way to their own dorm. Evie glanced at Mal and she nodded, shooting a small wave to Ilaria before entering her dorm. Evie walked up to her, coming to a stop when she realized she was covered with food. "Did you get into a fight?"

     "A food fight." Ilaria corrected. "Ben and I finally hung out."

     Evie chuckled. "It looks like things got interresting."

     Ilaria smiled. "You could say that." She then nodded towards the direction Mal had went. "What are you two doing up so late?"

     "We were talking with Jay and Carlos." Evie easily answered. "I noticed you weren't in Fairy Godmother's class today."

     Ilaria nodded. "She told me not to come, said something about having a surprise for you guys."

     Evie sighed. "It was a surprise alright."

     Instantly, she frowned. "What's wrong?"

     Evie shook her head. "It's nothing."

     Gently, Ilaria grasped her hand. "Hey, you can talk to me."

     Evie looked at their hands for a moment before meeting Ilaria's eyes. "She did a video call with our parents. I don't think it went how she wanted it to go."

     Ilaria's frown deepened. "Evie, I'm so sorry."

     Evie shrugged, shaking her head as she forced a smile on her face. "It doesn't matter."

     "Yes it does." Ilaria argued.

     "Can we just not talk about it?" Evie begged. "I'm just really tired."

     Slowly, Ilaria released her hand and took a step back. "Of course. We should probably both get some rest." She gave her a small smile. "Goodnight, Evie." She turned on her heel and walked away, her smile dropping as soon as her back faced Evie. She didn't want to push her on the matter, if Evie didn't want to talk about it she didn't have to. Ilaria had just hoped that maybe they had grown close enough to talk about things. Ilaria shook her head at the thought as she pushed herself into her room. Evie would talk about it when she was ready, and Ilaria had to accept that so she would. She grabbed herself some fresh clothes and took a quick shower before laying down and slowly falling asleep.